THE LAST SENTINEL

Years after a heroic tour of duty in Iraq, vengeance comes calling for an ex–Secret Service agent.

Eight years ago in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Mohsen Ashtari and his son Reza, a Quds Force officer, were on their way to greenlight an attack against American diplomats when their SUV was hit by a drone strike. Arriving at the vehicle, Air Force Capt. Clayton White decided for strategic reasons to rescue rather than execute the injured terrorist general. But Mohsen’s injuries were so severe that the decision was taken out of Clayton’s hands. Reza, viewing the incident from a distance, misread Clayton’s ministrations to his father as murder. The present-day narrative finds Reza in Florida and Clayton on his “personal kill list.” Clayton, having served a stint in the Secret Service, is now theoretically out of the danger zone and working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with love interest Veronica aboard the NOAA ship Surveyor when they suffer an unforeseen machine gun attack from Reza. The terrorist doesn’t stop there but rains fire on a nearby boat that carries Veronica’s father, Alexander Hammond, now the vice president of the United States, and his wife, Heather, who’s killed. The explanation of Hammond’s shameful role in this tragedy and Clayton’s subsequent turmoil merely marks time as the reader waits for the coup de grace, a masterfully modulated cat-and-mouse game that plays out in London. The numerous action scenes are depicted with precision and authority, including technical details of armaments and vehicles.

Gervais’ action-packed odyssey of a righteous American Everyman continues in fine fashion.